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Thomas Burgess is pushing hard for selection in England’s first game of the 2015 International Series against France, and coach Steve McNamara has got his squad training harder than ever before as they aim to get off to the best possible start this Saturday 24 October at Leigh Sports Village at 2pm UK time.

This will be English fans’ first opportunity to see England in action on home soil since 2013 and McNamara is fully-focused on this fixture and what it means to him and the players.

“I want to make this clear, this is a test match for our team. This is not a trial game, a warm-up or whatever other words people want to use to describe this game,” McNamara said on www.englandrl.co.uk.

“International caps are very hard to come by these days and there is one up for grabs in this game. Players have been training fiercely to get into the team this week to play against France.

“Fans will see our strongest team on the field at Leigh Sports Village, barring any injuries, it’s going to be close to what will be facing the Kiwis. You’ll see the best English players available right from the off.”

The England squad, including our own Thomas Burgess, had their official team photo for the 2015 International Series taken this week.

Watch the video above for the behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoot.